wretchedly
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English wrecchedly; equivalent to wretched + -ly.
Adverb
[edit]wretchedly (comparative more wretchedly, superlative most wretchedly)
- In a wretched manner.
- 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XLII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 241:
- Tell my page to ask him to walk with you, for you look wretchedly, and to be sure you have been on your knees a long time rubbing that foot, I must say.
- 1868 January 4 – June 6, [William] Wilkie Collins, “First Period. The Loss of the Diamond (1848). […]”, in The Moonstone. A Romance. […], volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], published 1868, →OCLC, chapter XVI, page 268:
- I felt wretchedly old, and worn out, and unfit for my place—and began to wonder, for the first time in my life, when it would please God to take me.